Zydus Cadila unveils affordable anti-diabetic drug Vildagliptin under brands Vinglyn, Vinglyn M

Ahmedabad: With the Novartis Blockbuster Vildagliptin going off patent, Zydus Cadila has taken made its move towards affordable diabetes care in India with the launch of its oral anti-diabetic agents under the brand name Vinglyn (Vildagliptin) & Vinglyn M (Vildagliptin plus metformin). Priced at 1/6 the price of the earlier patented drug, the new drugs are indeed going to lighten the pockets of patients aiming at blood sugar control and diabetes management.

Read also: Vildagliptin, Metformin combo shows long term blood sugar control in newly diagnosed diabetics

Diabetes has a high prevalence in Indian, with approximately 12% of male and 11.7% of female adults being impacted by the disease.

Commenting on the launch, Dr Sharvil Patel, Managing Director, Zydus Cadila, said, "Diabetes is becoming a major health burden globally. Fortifying our fight against diabetes, our aim is to make therapies affordable and accessible to patients from across sections of society. With Vinglyn, we believe that we have once again been able to offer this. Access to one of the most affordable gliptin therapies will help a large number of patients suffering from Type II diabetes, in India.”

Vildagliptin belongs to the class of anti-diabetic medications called DPP-4 inhibitor or gliptins. The drug is prescribed as a once-daily drug and may often be combined with another anti-diabetic drug metformin. Apart from Vildagliptin, there are other gliptins like Sitagliptin, Saxagliptin and Teneligliptin. However, Vildagliptin has about 25% share of the gliptins market of Rs 3500 crore.

The recent launch of Vinglyn (Vildagliptin) & Vinglyn M (Vildagliptin plus metformin) by Zydus is indeed a reason for diabetics to rejoice as the incidence of diabetes. With a patient population of almost 77 million diabetics in India, access to affordable therapy is vital for the effective management of the disease.

DPP4 inhibitors have shown promise in achieving glycaemic control without deterioration in beta-cell function and are one of the recent advancements in diabetes care and management.

Cheaper Version of Vildagliptin

Priced at just Rs 4.95 per tablet, which is almost 1/6th the price at which the patented Vildagliptin was initially launched in India, Vinglyn is now one of the most affordable brands of Vildagliptin for diabetic patients in India. Earlier, the price of each tablet of Vildagliptin ranged between Rs 20 to Rs 28.

Read Also: With Vildagliptin off-patent from today, new doors open for pharma players

Further, the diabetes therapy market is witnessing a number of pharma players cashing in on Vildagliptin with Zydus Cadila being one of the initial firms to launch and market the drug under trade name Vinglyn and Vinglyn M.

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